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Safeguarding Briefing - 21st November 2022
Dear Colleague,
The Importance of Being Confident When Teaching Sex & Relationship Education (NSPCC)
The NSPCC has begun a campaign to aid teachers to feel more at ease when teaching sex and relationship education to pupils. The decision has come off the back of a NASUWT survey finding 46% of secondary school teachers don’t feel confident on teaching the subject. However, teaching young people what to expect from relationships, what’s normal and what to be aware of is crucial to creating pupils armed with the ability to tell when they’re subject to abnormal or unlawful behaviour. Safeguarding has to be a dialogue between adolescents and teaching staff, if the teaching staff don’t feel confident addressing the issue then those they protect will feel even less sure. To aid teachers in increasing their abilities in this area, the NSPCC has launched a UK-wide service called Talk Relationships, if you want to find out more please follow the link below:
https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/services/talk-relationships?_ga=2.121326464.988371137.1668783365-840600739.1668783365
An Increase in Child Protection Enquiries (Community Care)
Official figures published at the beginning of the month, show that a 10% increase in Section 47 (The legislation enshrining LA’s responsibility to investigate child abuse allegations) has been observed over the past year. The findings are a reminder to safeguarding staff across the education sector to be particularly vigilant at the present time. For a breakdown of the full report see:
https://www.communitycare.co.uk/2022/10/31/child-protection-enquiries-reach-record-levels-reveal-official-figures/
Safeguarding in the Online Learning Space (LGfL)
The rise of online learning during the pandemic, and the increased use of ‘catch-up’ tutors the need to safeguard children outside of the school building has never been greater. Fortunately the London Grid for Learning has published some handy material to help make sure children stay as safe as possible outside school. You can find out more here:
https://www.lgfl.net/default.aspx
TikTok has now raised its Livestreaming Age Requirement to 18 (BBC News)
TikTok has frequently been called out for its glaring failures to protect under 18s which use its service. With its flashy images, easily digestible content and ‘childlike’ feel it has always been popular among school aged children. A fact which has made its safeguarding failures all the more worrying. The platform’s attempt to ban under 18s seems to be unfeasible however, and so it is as important as ever to be aware of its usage in the classroom. In particular, its gift function can easily be manipulated in order to commit criminal acts against children. As such wariness around the app should not be lowered as a result. To find out more about what motivated their decision, and its potential outcomes head over to the page linked below:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-63262102
A Guide to Education Data Processing (ICO)
The Information Commissioner’s Office has published detailed guidance to education providers on the correct processing of vital education data. As navigating the many legal and practical requirements of secure information processing can be a murky affair, this guide is very welcome. Seeking to make sure all members of staff are across data security, the document takes the reader through several topics such as who should have right of data access, or how to recognize a valid subject access request. With online safety more crucial then ever this handy document has a lot of good advice. If you’re interested in the full document please go to the link below:
https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protection/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/right-of-access/how-should-we-prepare/
What to look for in Unsuitable Apps – A Guideline (ICO)
In addition to looking at how to store data concerning young people, the ICO has also published guidelines for app developers vis a vi their suitability for children. The document – ‘Age Appropriate Design’ can also be used by educational professionals to become better acquainted with what to look out for whilst executing safeguarding duties. Duties which today require a serious examination of mobile applications and the vulnerabilities they can impose on young users. If your interested in reading more about their views on what makes an app acceptable for children please follow the link below:
https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protection/ico-codes-of-practice/age-appropriate-design-a-code-of-practice-for-online-services/
Guidance for Teachers giving Online Safety Lessons (DfE)
Online safety is now paramount to safeguarding, as is teaching safe internet use to young people. This may seem a daunting task, particularly as the technological skill of pupils themselves can be intimidating. Fortunately the government has published their own guidance as to how online safety lessons should be taught. You can find that information by following the link below:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teaching-online-safety-in-schools
Recently Published Case Reviews Now Online (NSPCC)
It is important to remember that although internet safety takes up an ever greater portion of safeguarding, it is offline and away from school where vulnerability can often be at its peak. For those charged with safeguarding children, or those interested in learning from what has gone wrong in the past the NSPCC’s archive of case reviews is an excellent resource. Find out more here:
https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/case-reviews/recently-published-case-reviews
Forthcoming Courses
Implementing the role of the Senior Mental Health Lead (DfE Course Code SMHL105)
This is our DfE Quality Assured course for Senior Mental Health Leads. The course offers self-paced learning using the resources in our SMHL.Pro Hub, which is available for 12 months. Each month there is a live online member check-in to catch up with your tutors and each other. The course cost £397+VAT, some schools are eligible for a grant to cover this cost.
For more details, go to: https://www.smhl.pro/course
Advanced Safeguarding for DSLs
This is a four-session course for DSLs over a full-day. The course is offered live and as a recorded replay. When the course is live, there are plenty of opportunities to contribute with observations, questions or answers. As a recording, the interactions from other people are included and feedback notes that this makes it feel like you are not on your own.
"I came to a session in Birmingham back in 2019 (the day after the GE I think) and it was superb. Today [online] was just as good, if not better. The use of video mixed with live speaking was excellent and goes way beyond what other safeguarding courses provide. You've been there and done it, and your openness with your own story is inspirational."
LIVE ONLINE Thursday 8th December 2022 BOOK NOW
...and available online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for your convenience BOOK NOW
LIVE ON LOCATION remember that you can book Andrew to visit your school, cluster or MAT to share his DSL course. Please contact us for details and bookings.
Whole School Safeguarding CPD Online Session for 2022/2023
In this two and half hour online presentation aimed at staff in all roles, specialist safeguarding consultant, Andrew Hall, explores important aspects of safeguarding in schools including child protection, learning from case studies and the latest version of Keeping Children Safe in Education.
"In my excitement, I forgot to add our star rating to the Safeguarding training we have just watched. If we could, we would give it 10 stars! That was the best Safeguarding training we have ever had, thank you so much. Feedback from staff has, so far, been overwhelmingly positive…I can't thank you enough."
"I would like to extend my thanks to Andrew for his fantastic online training. It was filmed so well - almost as if he were here with us! We were kept engaged throughout and felt so well informed - a huge thank you. It was a real success, and we look forward to booking you again in the future - with the staff team saying it was the best safeguarding training they have ever had. We really appreciated Andrew's real-life storytelling and the way such sensitive information was shared - it was excellent training."
You book your online session here: https://www.safeguardinginschools.co.uk/availablecourses
Until next time, keep safe and thank you for all the work you're doing,
Andrew Hall
Specialist Safeguarding Consultant,
Success In Schools Ltd.
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